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If you’re looking for a book on the Christian faith, American culture, inspiration and self-reflection, or children finding magical stones, then John Gondeck is your guy. And yes, he knows that last one is a little out of left field.
Gondeck is an insurance agent who has lived in Denton since 1976. But don’t assume his seemingly mundane day job makes him any less of a creative. His first experiences with storytelling were in his youth, when he’d swap tall tales with his friends under the streetlights in his hometown. If you’re lucky, he’ll show you a song he has written, or an impressive photograph he took of a summertime sunset. With three, and now almost four published books under his belt, Gondeck is prouder than ever about his artistic output – which he’ll tell you is all a product of God’s good graces.
His newest book is called “Lurking Monsters.” Despite what you might assume about the story based on the title alone, Gondeck’s motivation for writing it was based on the innocent request of an eight-year-old boy named Owen. Owen was attending the same prayer breakfast as Gondeck when he became infatuated with his status as a bonafide author. After a short interaction, “He asked me if I would write a book for him…And before I had a chance to say, ‘I'll think about it,’ I said, ‘Yes, I can.’"
Gondeck got to work on Owen’s book immediately. The narrative came to Gondeck the same way the words “Yes, I can,” came: quick, easy, and if you ask Gondeck, straight from God’s lips. Ideas Gondeck spun as simple plot devices turned out to have significant meaning to Owen and his family. For example, the aforementioned magical rock collection, would you believe that Owen collects rocks in real life? “I mean, I'm putting in the book that he was a stone collector, and come to find out, his father said he does collect stones,” Gondeck said.
Here’s where the Lurking Monsters come in: Owen happens upon a stone with the power to create a portal to another time — biblical times. Understandably confused and completely blown away, Owen and his dad embark on a journey to reconcile the well-known parables with their own beliefs and relationships. “His dad and he grew closer together…so it just brought them to a closer walk with each other as a father and son, but also as Christians. And then the story goes off from there, which I'm not going to tell,” he teased. The book should be available on Amazon by the time you read this.
Gondeck didn’t start publishing books until 2010. His third title, “Life at the 50 Yard Line,” features a photo of the North Caroline High School football stadium’s own 50-yard line on the cover. He said he is motivated to write by “the excitement” and unknowingness of where his faith and imagination will take him (now that he’s gotten more used to using a child-like imagination again). At the end of the day, his goal is to reach and inspire as many people as possible through his writing, and hopefully motivate them in some way to make positive change in their lives. For now, he’s really enjoying this chapter of children’s book writing, and already has plans to write more books inspired by local kids.
